Great writing. With all of these catastrophic scenarios, maybe a paradigm shift will emerge and the realization that having a monetary system is totally irrelevant for our current system. And the new era of creating abundance, sustainability, and efficiency will emerge. If the monetary system paints such an ugly picture in the end, then it's time for money to end unless we truly want to destroy ourselves.
Yes I am talking about a Resource Based Economy. And yes a RBE uses no money of any kind.
If the idea of not having a money system is upsetting to you, then ask yourself, "do you think heaven uses money?" If heaven is such a praised place by most religions, you honestly think a monetary system exists there?
Is it the American mentality that couldn't adjust to such a shift or is it the entire world? Or will the "Establishment" do anything and everything to maintain a monetary system in order to keep that debt noose around our necks?
Another post had been written being a simulation of crisis and preparedness. I found that post to be very thought provoking but it was also based on some extreme events such as a terrorist attack and EMP. No offense to the author of those posts, but I wanted to try to visualize what life could be like if the economy and life continue as they are and eventually come to a crisis without a major catalyst such as a terrorist attack. I wanted to try to put myself in the shoes of the average hard-working American that isn't into all that "conspiracy" stuff but works hard to pay his bills, put money into his 401K and live his life the way he was brought up to live it thinking that the government would take care of him and his family. I wanted to show how quickly things can escalate and how a little bit of preparation could mean the difference between life and death.
June 5, 2011
The world as we know it doesn't seem much different today than it has for the past several months. There are the typical threats of terrorism and talk of war around the world but nothing serious. Prices keep rising slowly but surely.
Gas: $7.40 / gal.
Gallon of milk: $7.99
Big Mac: $6.99
1 month electric bill: $700
1 lb. ground beef: $19
etc....
We try to drive as little as possible. I am able to work out of the house so I don't have to buy too much gas. We live about a mile from the Super Wal-Mart so we don't really have to go out any more than that. We buy groceries about every two weeks and fill the SUV to the brim with them. We spend about $1,200 everytime we go. That's all we can afford. Between utilities, health care, taxes and groceries, we're living paycheck to paycheck. I wish we had enough money to start a savings account for a rainy day but we just can't. We eat a lot of rice and beans these days. Ramen is still cheap but meat is very expensive. We've been talking about starting a garden now to help with the cost of food and also to get a little more nourishment but we don't know where to begin.
Our monthly budget:
Food: $2,500 (Once a month I take the family out to McDonald's. It costs the 3 of us $45.)
Gas: $50
Internet: $125
Phone: We don't have a phone or cell phone anymore. We use Skype for all communications now. The good thing about it is that the creditors can't call us anymore. =)
Cable: $185 (I don't know how we could live without cable. We don't go out anymore so TV is about all the entertainment we get.)
Gas/Water/Elec: $1,200
Mandatory government healthcare: $1,500
Monthly income (insurance salesman): $12,500
Total monthly budget: $5,585
Income tax withholding: $6,915 (45%)
Thankfully, I got a raise last week. It was a pretty substantial raise, 10%, so I am not hurting as much as some I know. So now instead of getting $150,000 per year I get $165,000. That will give me roughly $700/mo. after taxes and should help a little. My wife and I used to consider ourselves upper-middle class. Now I feel it is a stretch to call us lower-middle class. How can we be middle class if we're living paycheck to paycheck? I stopped paying into my 401K a while back but at least it is worth $450K right now. In just 14 more years I'll be able to cash it in.
My wife hasn't worked in over a year but it has given her time to stay home and take care of our 4 year old son. We wouldn't be able to afford day care or the gas right now even if she was working. In fact, most day care centers around us have closed down. My brother lost his job about 6 months ago and hasn't been able to find more work. He foreclosed on his house a year earlier and thanks to a government program he was able to stay and pay low rent for a year but that has ended and so has his employment. He has since declared bankruptcy and moved in with us. Luckily it is just him but he has no income and that's just one more mouth to feed. He does get a couple of hundred dollars worth of food stamps each month but he uses that to buy junk food or things he shouldn't then mooches off of us for real food. He mostly sits in his bedroom all day on the Internet or watching TV. We hardly see him. My sister, her husband and their 2 grade school children are facing a similar crisis right now. We're quickly running out of room in our 4 bedroom house. I think I should go buy some cots. I don't even want to think about my parents and the in-laws. We just don't have the room or the money to take care of all these people.
The government reports the unemployment rate at 19% but that number seems low. I know too many people not working right now. Luckily the government is forcing people to buy insurance so my job at the insurance company I work for looks safe for now. Still, I don't know how most people are surviving. Even those that have work can barely afford to feed themselves. I guess the government assistance programs are keeping everyone else alive.
September 10, 2011
Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. That seems so long ago. Nowadays, I'm wondering if the terrorists were right. Our government is running this country into the ground at an unbelievable rate. Just last week they announced a new increase in payroll taxes so the current tax rate is 60% for middle Americans. That raise I got a few months ago is now gone. It was really getting to the point that I really needed it too as prices of everything keep going up. We are spending more at the Wal-Mart these days and we seem to be buying less. We are definitely going to have to find ways to trim our budget. Not the cable TV...not the cable TV... The government is talking about subsidizing cable TV so maybe we'll all be able to get it for free from now on? I can only hope.
September 21, 2011
We went to McDonald's last night for our monthly meal. It cost us $62. I noticed that they don't even bother to update the prices on the menu board anymore. They said that they got sick of changing it everyday.
I've been begging my boss for a raise all week and he seems to be getting annoyed with me. We are on such a tight budget right now I don't know what else to do. He says that the company is barely afloat and cannot afford raises. More and more people each day are late paying their premiums and the only reason we haven't gone bankrupt yet is because the government keeps giving us money.
I saw on the news last night that the crime rate is going up at a phenomenal pace. The police can't keep up with it all. We are lucky out here in the suburbs that we don't get too much crime. I was thinking about getting a gun but my wife just won't have one in the house.
November 1, 2011
Last night was halloween. We didn't even bother to take our son out to go trick-or-treating. We only had 3 kids knock on our door anyway. I gave each of them a few peanuts. My wife was not pleased with me. She said they could get their own damn treats.
She tells me now everyday that we should build a garden. I've tried to explain to her that we don't know the first thing about growing a garden and it is almost winter now so it doesn't matter anyways. Our food rations are getting smaller and smaller everyday. Just a few years ago we had a full pantry with all kinds of foods that we never seemed to touch and they're all gone. Breakfast is usually half an egg and some toast. For lunch we'll have either some pasta with a smidge of spaghetti sauce or perhaps some white rice and pinto beans or a little bit of canned tuna. We try to save the vegetables for dinner so we usually make some sort of soup with whatever meat and veggies we have. We don't have anymore spices except salt and pepper but that's really about all one needs. My wife says that our monthly outting to McDonald's is permanently on hold. Food is getting so expensive that we keep having to cut back. It's not so bad, though, I am getting used to being hungry. I think my stomach is getting smaller and I've lost a lot of weight. I haven't been this thin in 20 years.
It really bothers me, though, that others get to go to McDonald's or another restaurant everyday because they don't have jobs and the government gives them food vouchers but since I do have a job to slave at everyday my family gets to eat rice and beans. I pay roughly $9,000 / mo. in taxes and my brother hasn't earned a dime in forever and gets free food and a place to stay. My wife yells at me daily about him. He's famiily so what can I do?
November 15, 2011
On the news this morning they said that riots have broken out all over the country. Apparently the government food vouchers did not get mailed this week and everyone is going crazy. I tried to log in to my company's VPN to start work this morning and I cannot get on. I sent an IM to my boss and he can't get in either. I don't even know now if I have a job.
November 16, 2011
We were supposed to go to Wal-Mart last night for our bi-weekly food run but we were afraid to leave the house. We don't have much food left to eat and we really need to go. My wife is sure things will calm down in a day or two after the National Guard gets mobilized.
The news just reported that the US dollar has collapsed. I'm not really sure what that means. The news is speculating all kinds of things but no one really knows what is going on. We have $3,000 in the bank that we were supposed to take to Wal-Mart. Now I don't even know if I can use it. I guess that 401K isn't going to do me any good now either.
They're saying that riots are spreading quickly from the urban areas outward. We're about 25 miles north of the city so hopefully they don't come this far. I wish I could learn more but the power keeps going out. It goes out for about 20 minutes and then comes on for about 20. I've got a baseball bat and my brother has a golf club. That's about the only defenses we have but it really doesn't matter since we don't have much food here anyways. There's nothing to take.
My next door neighbor just came and asked us to watch their place. They're getting out of town and heading up to her parents' place. They have a big piece of land in the country and they think they'll be safe there. I told them to hurry because the National Guard just placed a nationwide curfew after dark.
November 17, 2011
We haven't left the house. The rolling black outs are getting worse. We get about 5 minutes of power every hour. Whatever news we can get doesn't look good. Just about every store in America has been looted. There is no gas available for the trucks to deliver goods. Not that it matters since there is no one willing to drive them because there is no money. The weather is getting colder and our gas stopped working last night. We have to huddle up together under the blankets at night. The water still works but it has a very peculiar odor to it. I'm afraid to drink it. We were boiling it for the past couple of days but now that the gas doesn't work we won't be able to do that. We have a little bit of bleach so we're going to try putting some water and bleach in some buckets. We're afraid the water could be shut off at any moment. What little food supplies we had are almost gone.
I feel so bad about it but I broke into my neighbors' house, the one's that left yesterday. I have to feed my family. It turns out they had all kinds of food. I found a can of black olives, some crackers, a whole bunch of uncooked pastas, some minestrone and a few other soups, a can of artichoke hearts and some other things that used to go unused in my pantry too. I guess they were too good to eat this stuff but to me it's a goldmine. We're having a feast tonight.
I've seen riots before but what is happening right now is scary. I've seen the National Guard troops going throughout the neighborhood and it seems like they're rounding people up. I don't know what for but the neighbor behind me said they knocked on her door and when she answered it they barged in, without a warrant, a took her husband. They didn't even explain why. I've known him for years. He's always been the type to speak out against the government and talking about conspiracies and whatnot. His wife thinks that's why they took him. The smell of smoke is thick in the air and there's a dark haze over town. I caught a glimpse on the news before the power went out again of what looked like concentration camps. Perhaps that's where they took my neighbor.
March 2, 2012
This is the first time in months that we've had power and an Internet connection long enough for me to update my blog. Things are starting to stabilize now but calling life over the past few months hell doesn't even begin to explain the harsh reality. The important thing is that my family has survived. Too many others weren't so lucky. I've been told that many millions of Americans have died over the past few months from the riots, starvation, freezing, sickness or, the worst, the death squads. That's right. Those people, like my back neighbor and my brother, were taken to the camps and eventually put to death for crimes unknown. Mr. Obama tells us that it was for the safety of all Americans that these "traitors" be executed.
Back in late December we were told to go down and register for our new money IDs. When we showed up they injected something into us. We were told that it was an injectable chip that would track our money from now on and we would no longer need cash. Those that refused were taken away and haven't been seen since. On January 2 they went into effect. Every American was given an allotment of money based on a number of different criteria. Almost immediately things calmed down. The first thing we noticed was that the power stayed on. It wasn't long before food was being delivered regularly by non-military trucks. There are government sponsored work programs being advertised everyday to "rebuild America". I went down right away and signed up for a job working for the roads dept. I get 20 Ameros per day, which isn't bad considering I can buy a gallon of milk for just 1 Amero.
You may be wondering how we survived until then. Well, my brother finally decided he was going to pay us back for all of our hospitality. Back in the beginning of December he met up with a group of people that claimed to be a militia. They gave him some guns and together the whole group ambushed a food convoy. He was able to aquire several crates of Army food rations. He stored them here and 2 days later the Dept. of Homeland Security showed up and took him away. We haven't seen him since and we assume he is dead. They interviewed my wife and me for several hours and decided that he acted alone and that we were not any real threat. They confiscated his stash from his bedroom and searched the house. Luckily, they did not search the storage shed in the backyard where I had been keeping most of my supplies. I had made a trap door in it and stuffed a box under the shed. This was to keep my brother and any possible "friends" of his from finding it. That food got us through the winter until our Ameros kicked in.
I started sleeping during the daylight so I could stay up at night and keep watch. I used one of the guns my brother had gotten and patrolled silently around the house all night in the cold winter air. Things were so eerily quiet back then that you could hear sounds from miles away. There wasn't a night that went by that I didn't hear gunshots followed by people screaming. On 3 separate occasions I saw people approaching my home in the middle of the night. Luckily a couple of warning shots was all it took to make them go away.
I've not heard from anyone else in my family. My sister, mother and father, my wife's parents. We don't know if any of them survived. But we did and, for me, that's enough.